Ralf Rangnick's Austria announce squad for March international break

Rangnick’s side will face Slovakia in March

Three Austrian players have been pulled out of the team for the next matches by Ralf Rangnick due to their involvement in an incident involving homophobic chants.

Rapid Vienna teammates Guido Burgstaller, Marco Grull, and Niklas Hedl were seen on camera chanting remarks that were homophobic during their team’s 3-0 victory over rival Austria Vienna on February 26. The players and their team, Rapid Vienna, had to issue an apology when social media users shared videos of their behaviour, causing uproar.

Rangnick decided not to choose the three for Austria’s next games against Slovakia and Turkey, which are scheduled for March 23 and 26, respectively, in reaction to the incident. Rangnick stressed the seriousness of the problem by telling the German publication Sportschau that his squad would not put up with such an attitude, which openly denigrates and prejudices against other people.

Trending World Football Articles:

• Top 10 U18 football prodigies making waves during 2023-24 season
• Egypt announce squad for March international break; Mohamed Salah left out
• Top 10 most valuable teams in MLS 2024
• Kevin De Bruyne’s top 10 best assists in Premier League: Ranked
• Out of contract in 2024: Top 10 footballers available on free transfer

Rangnick told Sportschau in an interview that

“(The players must) seriously address this issue and understand what it means for people when they are publicly insulted and discriminated against in such a way. That is something I will not tolerate in my team. Everything we stand for with the national team is diametrically opposed to the other end of the value scale.”

Austria squad ahead of March international break

Goalkeeper: Tobias Lawal, Patrick Pentz,

Defenders: Flavius Daniliuc, Kevin Danso, Stefan Lainer, Phillipp Mwene, Philipp Lienhart, Stefan Posch, Leopold Querfeld, Maximilian Wöber

Midfielder: Christoph Baumgartner, Muhammed Cham, Florian Grillitsch, Konrad Laimer, Alexander Prass, Marcel Sabitizer, Xaver Schlager, Romano Schmid, Matthias Seidl, Nicolas Seiwald, Andreas Weimann,

Forwards: Maximilian Entrup, Michael Gregoritsch, Christoph Lang, Patrick Wimmer

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.